[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15474]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        COMMEMORATING JUNETEENTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Bell) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to join with the gentlewoman from Texas 
(Ms. Jackson-Lee), my fellow Houstonian and colleague, to commemorate 
Juneteenth, a very important day in the State of Texas; for on this day 
June 19 in 1865, General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and 
announced the freedom of the last American slaves, nearly 2\1/2\ years 
after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
  Today, Juneteenth remains the oldest known celebration of slavery's 
demise. It commemorates freedom while emphasizing scholarship and 
achievement. Juneteenth honors the 400 years of suffering African 
Americans endured under slavery and celebrates the legacy of 
perseverance that has become the hallmark of the African American 
community's struggle for equality. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, 
``Freedom is never free''; and A. Phillip Randolph, an African American 
labor leader, was fond of saying ``freedom is never given. It is won.''
  We should all recognize the power and the ironic truth of those 
statements, and we should pause to remember the enormous price paid by 
all Americans in our country's quest to define what the word 
``freedom'' truly means.
  As a symbol of freedom and of enormous burdens overcome, Juneteenth 
should almost be as important to my fellow Americans as July 4.

                              {time}  1645

  Because it was only after that day in 1865 on the heels of the most 
devastating conflict in our country's history in the aftermath of a 
civil war that pitted brother against brother, neighbor against 
neighbor, and threatened to tear the very fabric of our Union apart 
forever, it was only after that day in 1865 when General Granger rode 
into Galveston, Texas, and the last Americans were finally released 
from the chains of bondage that had held them for generations, it was 
only on that day that the America we all know and love today was 
finally born. It was not until June 19, 1865, that America truly became 
the land of the free and the home of the brave.
  As a Texan, I am proud to say that my State is one of only two that 
observes June teenth as a State holiday. It is my sincere hope that in 
its future, we will all celebrate this important holiday together.

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